Community Corner
Oh I Know It Don't Thrill You, I Hope It Don't Kill You
With so much information on parenting readily available, how much is too much?
Every day with children is chock-full of questions, answers, statements and plenty of nonsense. There are numerous problems encountered and makeshift solutions by the dozen. Odd behaviors, temper tantrums, sassy mouths and defiance cause parents everywhere to seek out answers.
There is a seemingly endless supply of parental issues. There also seems to be an endless supply of people giving their take on those issues. Endless research, studies, experts, books, websites and blogs telling parents everything they could ever want to know.
It is useful to know how verbal aggression may affect children's behavior, how TV could make kids aggressive or what negative effects spanking has on low-income toddlers.
Find out what's happening in East Atlantawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Parents cheering from the bleachers may not know that youth football helmets are designed to the same standards as adult helmets. There has only been one study looking into how a child's head responds to impact in football. They should know that Dr. Barry P. Boden from the Orthopedic Center in Rockville, Md. said "high school football players have more than three times the risk of a catastrophic head injury than their college peers."
Is this because the helmets aren't made for them?
Find out what's happening in East Atlantawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Parents glued to their iPhones should know that each year more than 200,000 children are seriously injured and an average of 17 children die from playing on playgrounds.
Parents seeking validation for their paranoia read about how low birth weight and exposure to pesticides, viruses and household chemicals are linked to Autism. MSNBC calms them a bit with a story on how research suggests at least 10 percent of children with autism can “recover” from it — most of them after undergoing years of intensive behavioral therapy.
Parents looking for an excuse to take a vacation can cite a study that found three days after getting home, vacationers' quality of sleep and mood had improved from before vacation. The improvements lasted for five weeks.
With all of the parenting topics I've thrown at ya and the World Wide Web full of others, it is impossible to run out of fodder. However, living with all of the parenting issues, problems, stresses and, of course, joys you may find yourself in need of a vacation from them.